"I think I be done seen about everything when I see an elephant fly." And that would be quite a thing. Except we all did be done seen an elephant fly already; at some point in the last 78 years when we saw the 1941 animation. But Disney is not a company that is happy to leave well alone and Let It Be will never be their corporate anthem. So, it's time to get that flap-eared elephant up and earning again. Alongside more Marvel superhero movies, more Star Wars, Frozen II and Toy Story 4, as well as this, 2019 sees them doing live action remakes of Aladdin and The Lion King. With Disney, you always be done seen everything before.

The original animation Dumbo ran a slim 64 minutes and doesn't really offer up a lot of plot, so this new version comes up with a brand new story, that is just like all the other movie story. In a run-down circus a being with magic powers, flying baby elephant, comes to the aid of two children whose mother has died. Then an evil businessman (Keaton) enters and tries to exploit it only for the weak and put upon circus people to come together and be heroic. It's basically ET. And no they do not do the song.

To emphasise the feeling of same old, same old, the film is directed by Tim Burton. 20th century Burton was a true Hollywood maverick and made some films that I love, but the system seems to be slowly grinding him down. He still is a magnificent visual artist, but he is a junky to the CGI (this is a live-action remake in that there are actual people in it, but almost nothing else is real) and he is very set in his way. (Why wouldn't he be? He's a man in his sixties who's been doing the same job for over forty years.)

The visuals are splendid but familiar. The second half takes place in a futuristic theme park that seems more like a fifties World Expo than post-war 1919 when the film is set. It is also very much like the circus gang sets from Batman Returns. And it is still something to look at but when reality is as heightened as this, and with such little regard for the reality of the story, what it communicates is that nothing much is at stake here and nobody is much bothered.

But, though it may be a half-hearted effort, the film's OK I suppose. The elephant is sweet and the cast is enjoyable. Eva Green is cast as a French trapeze artist and, alarmingly, can't do the accent but gives some great close up. Whenever the camera fixes on her she looks like some magnificent German film star from the silent era. Colin Ferrell has never really become a bona fide movie star in the two decades since he escaped from Ballykissangel, but that's surely down to luck than any failings on his part because he does great work for the film by making his wet leading man role more appealing than it has any right to be.

It's a soulless and mechanical money extraction device, but it's good for the kids.